The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1887-10-06
NEW OLASs or OTTTZENs.

q
Much comment has been caused
the entire country lately,
and especially In the east, where the
as yet is strongest, by the
general and almost unanimous tendency /
of British subjects to become citizens Of |
the United States. On this important |
subject the New York Tribune of Tues
day has the following:
"The movement among Englishmen,
Scotchmen and Canadians throughout
the country to become citizens is one of
great Importance. They constitute the
only nationalitieS-or nationality, for
they are practically one-who show a
high order of intelligence, and who yet
have, to a large extent, refrained from
identifying themselves fully with their
adopted country. Their number is
greater than many realize. 1t is esti-
mated that there are in Massachusetts
more than Is 600 naturalized English
men and Scotehmen. In the city of
New Haven alone there are said to be
thirty-five thousand. The chief
centre of interest in this question
just now is Chicago, where nine Eng
lish societies are cooperating toward
this end, and expect the Scotch, Welsh
and Canadians to join them. The fig
ures of the size of these elements are
necessarily only approximate, but they
| show that this movement may have a
decidedly appreciate effect upon the
vote in that city. There are said to be
&c, 600 Canadians alone in Chicago, of
whom 2, 500 are naturalized, and Is, 900
EngliShmen, of whom even q smaller
proportion are believed to be citizens.
Even allowing for exaggeration III these
figures, it will be seen that this ele-
ment might do a good deal more than
hold the balance of power in some of
/ our cities, and with their votes cast on
| the side OF public honesty and munich
pal economy, as most of them doubtless
would be, they could exercise a great
influence for good. In the public ut
terances thus far made by these bodies
in different parts of the Union, they
have shown themselves strong friends
of the common school system, and es-
pecially determined to check public cor
| ruptiOn.
| Native Americans, and all patriotic
citizens, will gladly welcome this new
element into the great fraternity of
citizenship. The very strength Of their
attachment to the mother country,
which has probably been their chief
reason for continuing their allegiance
to her so long, will make them the best
of American citizens when they have
once been naturaliZed. They are
among the most intelligent of our alien
residents. Their traditional sturdiness
will make them independent in politi-
cal action. No one will ever hear of a
boss carrying the English or Scotch OF
Canadian vote in his pocket. 1t is only
fair to say, at the same time, that theiI
assumption of their full duties as Am.
erican citizens has been delayed long
enough. 1t is time that they should
vote, serve on juries, and perform the
other duties of citizenship with the
rest of us. When so many of the vexa
J tious problems of our national life arise
, from the presence in the country Of
great numbers of uneducated and ever
lawleSS foreigners, it would be emf
nently appropriate, to say the least
; that all Intelligent and law-abidinl
foreigners should do whatever lies il
their power to help along the cause o.
? good government.
The proportion of the English ele
ment in our population Is not fully real
lied, perhaps, by many. The census o
1880 showed 1854, 755 persons born il
> the British Empire, including British
America but excluding Ireland. Ii
other words, the number of person
: born on the soil of Great Britain ant
the Colonies was only 219, 8I6 less thai
the number of those born in ireland
/, In New York City there were by tn
. census of 1880 more than 46, 600 person
born in Great Britain and the Colonies
!, excluding Ireland. How many of thes
! are naturaliZedp 1t would be interest
. ing to know. In Philadelphia Their
p were more than 81, 600 such persons
At the present time these figures woul
probably need to be increased, as tn
8 immigration from the British Empir
Q has been large during the last te
years. It has reached a point where
:, exceeds the immigration from Ireland
Up to the first of August there wer
$500 more immigrants from Grea
Britain this year than from IRELAND
0 as shown from the figures of the Blu
v reau of Statistics. Obviously, tn
3 British Americans can be a power
! our politics, and in a way with whie
no one can find any fault.